Momofuku Bo Ssam

I had a hankering the other day for Momofuku Bo Ssam the other day, but being many miles away from New York City, I had to make it myself. Luckily, David Chang has been kind enough to provide a recipe to New York Magazine. Martha Stewart has a different one that calls for a rub rather than a brine. I have never tried the Martha Stewart one myself, but I can attest to the NYMag version.

I had a little difficulty getting the bone-in pork butt, but this turned out to be a great conundrum, as it necessitated my inaugural visit to Peoria Packing Butcher Shop. If rows of stainless steel tables piled high with various cuts of meat gets your blood pumping and your lips turning up in a smile of glee, then Peoria is the place of you. It's sort of a grab and go operation. There are various stations where one can don some plastic gloves and then pick and choose her desired cut. I cradled my 9.5 lb pork butt against my stomach as I slowly perused the other aisles before I walked it to the register.

Cradled it in a plastic bag of course. I love meat, but not that much. I love clothes too, you know.
After over six hours in the oven, the Bo Ssam had a wonderful dark caramelised bark. One grabs the pork with tongs. Then take a lettuce leaf, smear it with some Sagyegeol ssäm jang, top it with some rice, and a little pork. That's it! Wrap it up and eat it like a little burrito. One can feel free to add additional accompaniments of course, maybe some sliced jalapeno, or a bit of kimchee. Anything really. I paired the bo ssam with lots of banchan from Joong Boo Market and some pan fried vegetable gyoza. Some of my guests had never had Korean before, and it was exciting to be their guide.

Kalbi

The Epicurean Club at school held a cooking demonstration event, where students volunteered to teach their peers how to cook a meal.

I lucked out and got Korean food. Whoo hoo!

I need to find a Korean market that is accessible by the el train because these images of kim chee seriously have me craving a good shopping excursion.

I stuffed myself silly that night. No surprise there.

We all huddled around the makeshift dinner table and ate and ate and ate. I like that our hosts were gracious enough to get a good char on the kalbi, smoking up the whole house, so that we got a veritable smoke sauna. It was totally worth it though.

BCD Tofu House and Red Mango

BCD Tofu House recently opened in K-town. We went with one of my favorites: kimchee chigae. "Ripe" kimchee, tofu and slivered pork sizzling in an iron pot. My stomach growls just thinking about it.

Since it's been so hot this summer, we went with cold buckwheat noodles: naeng myun, with slices of puffer fish! The fish was sliced close to the spine and tasted sweet but not generally particularly memorable, coated as it was in the red chili sauce. The buckwheat noodles were slippery and cool, but I wanted to kick myself when I slurped up the last bite and saw that I had completely forgotten about the vinegar and hot mustard accompaniments the waiter had set on the table for us to season our noodles to taste.

Afterwards we headed over to Red Mango, whereupon I tried the pomegranate yogurt: slightly chalky and sweeter than Pinkberry. Blech.

BCD Tofu House, 17 W. 32nd St. (b/n B'way and 5th), New York, NY 212-967-1900

Red Mango, 39 W. 32nd St. (b/n B'way and 5th), New York, NY 212-290-7650

Bon Chon Chicken

After Yakitori Totto, the boys didn't seem full, so I took them to Bon Chon Chicken. Sweet mother those wings are good.

The waiter convinced us to order another appetizer, claiming the wings would take awhile, so we got this Cafe Habana knock-off corn. Let's do a little Asian stereotyping here: those Koreans will knock of anything that's good. Verdict on the corn: too much cheese!

Note: Bon Chon is now called Mad For Chicken.

Toyose

Somewhere, out in the Siberia known as the Outer Sunset, is the perfect spot to down shots of soju while chopstick fighting over some spicy chicken wings.

It's called Toyose, and it's way out on Noriega and 45th.

Koreans make some mean fried chicken wings.

And they aren't too bad at the kimchee either.

Toyose, 3814 Noriega St. (b/n 45th and 46th), San Francisco, CA

Sahn Maru Korean BBQ

I am finally back from my trip to the Bay Area. When I looked from the airplane window and saw the multitude of tiny lights glittering beneath wispy clouds, I felt glad that New York knows how to be a city and understands the associated concept of population density.

When I went to visit my friend in Oakland, I screeched that he was living in suburbia. He chuckled and informed me that Oakland qualifies as a bona fide urban location. I guess so.


We had lunch at Sahn Maru Korean B.B.Q., and I insisted on ordering kim chee chigae. It was good, but I prefer a chigae that is so spicy it makes me ears ring and so seasoned that a spoonful of soup has a slightly gritty texture from all of the spices mingling in the broth.

We also ordered a plate of bulgolgi and jap chae. Sahn Maru was good, and we ate everything before waddling out the door, but I don't think the experience will induce serious cravings. Apparently their specialty is pa jun, the Korean pancake, which they cook on a blisteringly hot iron plate.

Sahn Maru Korean B.B.Q., 4315 Telegraph Ave. (b/n 43rd and 44th), Oakland, CA 94609, 510-653-3366

Braving Ft. Lee

The things I'll do for some good grub. I actually got on a bloody bus to Jersey in order to try the famed Korean bbq in Ft. Lee, New Jersey.

Problem is, I don't excel at geographic coordination, and I got on the wrong bus. Of course.

In the end I made it but can't say if it definitively was worth the trip. See, the long-planned trip to Ft. Lee (had to arrange for my friend to drive me back to Manhattan afterwards; there is no way I'm going to Ft. Lee without a ride back) coincided with my getting over yet another cold.

All in all, the food did seem generally better than the Korean bbq in Manhattan. The Kimchee Chigae was significantly more flavorful than any I've had this side of the Hudson. The Galbi was delicious, particularly the last few pieces that had picked up a bit of char.

Bulgolgi holds second tier status in my heart. This place's bulgolgi was reminiscent of Chinese style "wet" jerky. Very sweet.

In the end, even though we didn't order any rice, I had eaten so much I couldn't sit up straight. To add insult to injury, I had chosen to wear a long sleeved shirt with large bands of orange horizontal stripes. I looked good.

Dong Bang Grill, 1616 Palisade Avenue, Ft. Lee, New Jersey 07024, 201-242-4485

So I Like to Hang with White People

This weekend felt like the most luxurious weekend. Aside from some judicious checking of the Blackberry, I didn't do anything related to work.

Soft Tofu "Amuse Bouche"

Friday I met up with my friend J to watch Gran Torino. Gran Torino is amazing, fantatic, hilarious. Yes, somehow I found all the racist stuff really funny. It made me feel so good to get out a few hearty cackles in the movie theater. When it ended, I said none too quietly, "I can't believe no one would go see this with me, it's so good!" And in that moment, I had a brief, searing thought: someone in this theater is thinking, "Oh, I can believe exactly why no one would see this movie with you -- or any movie."

Panchan

Saturday, my high school friend W and I went to see Othello at the Duke on 42nd Street, my first infusion of theater in many a month. Since I missed the Armory Show this weekend, it made me feel good to squeeze in some cultural infusion.

Spicy Squid Panchan

Speaking of Othello, I understand that Iago is a conniving son of a turd, but Othello is a rather bothersome individual from the perspective of a modern viewer. He did a Chris Brown on Desdemona when he strikes for no good reason except for the jealous infestation in his mind. I understand that he's torn by grief and rage in the belief that his beloved has cheated on him, but shame on him for being such a trusting fool that he can't even see what's real. If anything, it just goes to show why it's important to be a good judge of character.

Kimchee Chigae

W and I decided to grab Korean barbeque after the play, and even though technically Don's Bogum is my current favorite, I didn't remember their chigae being that good, and I was really craving a good kimchee chigae.

Kalbi - marinated short ribs

Now I know Kum Gang Sang is everybody's post-college, new-to-New York intro to Korean BBQ restaurant, but I still find it a useful standby. I know there are white people there, but for crying out loud, Joe Shanghai's has white people and unless you're a real snob, you love their crab and pork soup dumplings as much as I do. So hush up and don't hate me that I had diner at Kum Gang Sang, or at the very least, if you're going to judge, please arrange to drive me to Fort Lee or fly me to Los Angeles, so I can get some real Korean.

Bulgolgi

Oh, can't swing a trip to Fort Lee for me? That's too bad. Then hush up, and yes I know about Kunjip, and no I don't think it's that good.

For those of you who are confused. Kum Gang Sang is considered old hat. Kunjip is supposed to have really good food that taste's like mom made it, but I still haven't figured out what's supposed to be so great about that joint because everything seems a little bland.

Kum Gang Sang, 49 West 32nd Street (b/n B'way and 5th).

Kalbi Lunch Boxes

Things have been so busy of late, I haven't had time to cook lunch for the upcoming weekend, which has meant $12 salads and $7 sandwiches that are fine but generally not wholly appealing.

I finally managed to squeeze in some time this weekend and made some Korean marinated short ribs for the second time. My first attempt was years back with a basic soy, garlic, ginger, scallion, sugar and sesame oil marinade. I generally based my marinade on the recipe listed on this site. The kiwi seems to have really made a difference. Instead of rice wine vinegar, I used mirin. I'm so excited about lunch now!

Don's Bogum: Another Night of Korean

For my mom's last meal in town, I wanted to go to Queens and eat at Chao Thai. Ever since I went over the summer, I've been trying to get an eating buddy to go, so I can try more of the menu.

Not realizing the V train doesn't run on the weekends, I got impatient waiting for it and broke down and decided to take the F to K-town instead.

Don's Bogum is currently top of my list for Korean in midtown. In the back where there's seating for those who want to eat Korean BBQ, the tables are arranged so that you have to climb up on a low platform, but you still get to sit like a normal person because there's a well underneath the table for your feet. They also have the same vents that restaurants in Korea have to suck up all of the smoke from the grilling.

You know what this seating arrangement really makes me think about? My dad's socks. Many years ago, my father confessed about an experience visiting a Japanese restaurant with coworkers where they had to remove their shoes. My dad doesn't like waste and isn't much for vanity, which translates into holes in the toes of his sock for everyone to see. The mortification still embarasses my vain little heart. The great thing about the seating at Don's Bogum is that there isn't any need to remove your shoes, though you can if you want, as I noticed that some diners with big clunky boots chose to leave them by the platform.

Enough about footwear, there was a decent array of panchan. We got marinated pickled daikon, spicy cuttlefish, mushrooms, watercress, some weird creamy peas and carrots and corn dish, soybeans, cucumbers, kimchee and scallions. The kimchee wasn't as good as at Gam Mee Ok, but that's to be expected.

Even though it was a frigid day, I ordered the neng myun, which are cold buckwheat noodles because the texture of the noodles is similar to Totto Tokusei Morioka Style Reimen at Yakitori Totto. That was a stupid move because it's nowhere near as good as the ramen at Yakitori Totto, and the presence of ice floating in the broth really did not turn my mom onto the noodles. If I hadn't ordered that, I could have gotten a kimchee chigae, which would have been infinitely more satisfying.

For BBQ, we got the marinated meat platter that had three different types of marinated beef. You see how the little air suction thing comes down to hover right over the grill? It helps one to not reek afterwards. The meal wasn't mind-blowing, but it was casual and just a quick subway ride from home.

Gam Mee Ok: Fort Lee Baby!

When my mom came to visit, she said we could rent a car to get out of town. I suggested that we go to Woodbury Commons to do some outlet shopping, but the real reason was because I wanted an excuse to try the famed Korean restaurants in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

On our way back from Woodbury, we headed to Gam Mee Ok. I thought it would be a place where we could have lots of chigaes, barbeque and panchan, but it really goes to show that one should do several hours of research before venturing to try a new restaurant environ. Gam Mee Ok has a very small menu, and for panchan, all they brought out was some fantastic cabbage and daikon kimchee.

A waiter came by with a white ceramic pot, from which he carefully brought out some kimchee. He cut the cabbage and daikon with some scissors, and then poured from a silver teakettle some spicy kimchee sauce over it.

We got the Sul Long Tang, which is this mild oxtail soup with rice and noodles. They bring a bowl of scallions, sea salt and black pepper that you can add to taste. It reminds me of super watery congee (watery as in more liquid, not more bland). It's the sort of dish one would want when they're sick with the flu, flat on their back, and whimpering for their mama.

Speaking of which, have you gotten your flu shot? I have. It was arranged at our office that we could get it done during work. Apparently they originally had the nurse situated in one of the nice conference rooms with views of the city, but said conference room is also directly across from the entrance leading from the elevator banks and near several big whigs' offices. Apparently people got uncomfortable when certain professionals of the masculine gender had to remove partially their shirts in order to give the needle good aim at their shoulder. By the time I got my shot, us hypochondriacs were relegated to some interior, windowless office where some poor sap straight from college is usually forced to try and earn a living wage.

But sickness was not the order of the day in our quest for New Jersey Korean, so we also got some kalbi, which was really flavorful and well-marinated, better than the stuff in Manhattan. The Bin Dae DDuk (pan-fried mung bean pancake) sucked. It was small, dense, and not very flavorful. I like my pancakes to be big, crispy on the outside, light and moist on the inside, with lots of fillings.

It was clear that all of the food was really well-prepared, but I was hoping for a pop the buttons off my jeans, bust ones pants, full-on, stuff your face experience. Instead, we got a few, well-prepared dishes that tasted like what mom would make, if I had a Korean mom.